Method of treating dough



July 41944. M. COHEN ET AL METHOD 0F TREATING DoUGH 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 6, 1942 lllLwnmlll WWK mwN

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y and July 4, 1944. M, COHEN ET AL 2,352,617

METHOD oF TREATiNG DoUGH Filed Feb. 6, 1942 2 Sheets-sheet 2 Patented July 4, i944 l METHOD F TBEATKING DOUGH Mon-ls Cohen, Kansas City, Mo., and Duard W. Enoch, George Hasty, and Gerald A. Jorgenson, Chicago, lll., assignors to Interstate Bakeries Corporation, Kansas City, Mo., a corporationv of Delaware Application February s, 1942, sei-iai No. 429,7@

(ci. iov-54) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to method for treating dough, more particularly in large scale bakery production where savings intime and labor cost are important, and where. together with such savings, improvements in the quality of the product are sought.

See co-pending means application Ser-ial No. 514,049, led December 13, 1943, as a vdivision hereof. s

'In the handling of dough for baking, it has been well known to move an elongate strip of dough along a conveyor belt and station a number of men, frequently as many as ilve or six, at intervals along the length of the belt to coil the strip longitudinally by hand, so that it is formed into a long relatively small diameter coiled cylinder having its axis extending in the direction of movement of the belt, whereupon the elongate cylinder may be cut by hand or by a power driven knife into short length cylindrical pieces to be placed npans or the like for baking.

It has also been proposed to eliminate the manual rolling by the employment of mechanically driven rollers placed obliquely immediately over the conveyor belt to turn the dough upon itself in one or more convolutions. It has been found, however, that a minimum of ,working of the dough is desirable and kthat such coiling of the dough by a plurality of rollers has attendant dls- Figure 4 is a. fragmentary perspective view of theleading end of the dough strip;

Figure is a somewhat diagrammatic end viewA i l0 (Fig. 3) may be prepared in the usualrway,

advantageously by the use of dough conditioning machinery, not necessary, for the purposes of hanced cost of installation and maintenance.l

' 2| in the bracket il to pivot the frame I9 thereon tinuity of operation andan improved and more uniform final product.

The invention is inclusiveiof both the process and the apparatus, and will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing a preferred form of apparatus embodying the invention and illustrative process steps employed in the practiceythereof.

Figure l is a sectional view,y partly in elevation, of such apparatus, being a section taken on the line l-l of Fig. 3;

Figure 2 is a partial end view or section taken on the line 2,-! of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2, together with a vdough strip being treated;

the present invention, to be here described, it being sufficient for present purposes to ,indicate that the dough l0 may be rst considered for the purposes of the present invention in the form of an elongate continuous strip, the leading end of such continuous strip having an appearance as suggested in the perspective view of Fig. 4. Upon the upper surface of this strip of dough, as suggested in the drawings, and along one 'longitudinal margin thereof, as I I, may be deposited by means not here necessary to be described. a coating of water for sealing purposes presently further referred to.

The dough strip l0 is appropriately led onto a conveyor I2 here shown in the form of an endless canvas belt moving uniformly in the direction of the 'arrow I3 (by conventional conveyor belt mechanism not here shown) on a table I4 which includes side rails l5 and li for supporting the table and for guiding the belt therealong.

In accordance with the present invention, the

side rail l5 carries a bracket Il on which ls pivotally supported one leg IB of a frame I9 of inverted U-shape, the frame leg il having a cylindrical foot 20 received in a corresponding socket for swinging movement across the conveyor I2 in a plane parallel to the conveyor.

At its other end, the frame I8 has a somewhat shorter leg 22 which rides on an arcuate track 23 disposed transversely to span the conveyor belt I2 in relatively close proximity thereabove and fixed to suitable brackets carried bythe side rails l5 and I6, as at 24 and 25 respectively. The arcuate track 23 is formed on an arc concentric with the pivot 20 and with a radius corresponding to the length of the frame I9, so that the swinging end of .the frame is supported in its movements cross-wise of the conveyor on the pivot 20. obliquely with respect to the conveyor l2, and to x its oblique position selectively the track 2l may be slotted longitudinally as at 26 substantially throughout its arcuate distance to pass Thus. the frame may be arranged' therethrolmh a headed set-screw 21 which enters the leg 22 of the frame and may be either loosened to permit manual cross-wise adjustment of the lrame or tightened to clamp the leg 22 i to tie rail 28 to maintain such selected adjustmen Carried by the frame I8 and between the end legs I8 and 22 thereof is shown a relatively large roller 28 -mounted on trunnions 2l and 38 at its ends respectively which are journalled in the frame. At the pivotal end of the frame I8', the roller tnmnion 28 is shown extended as at 3l to have fixed thereon a sprocket wheel 32 upon which is entrained a drive chain I3 also in mesh with a sprocket 2l on the output shaft 35 of a1 reduced by making the sprocket wheel 34 on the output shaft of the reducer substantially smaller than the sprocket wheel 82 on the roller trunnion. The motor 81 and the speed reducer 36 are conjunctively mounted on the web piece 38 of the frame I8 to move with the frame and thus be always in operative position regardless of the position oi' the roller obliquely of the conveyor.

At the swinging end of the frame. the trunnion 88 of the roller 28 may be journalled in a bearing block 88 which has sliding vertical movement in the frame leg 22, the latter being appropriately biiurcated for this purpose as best shown in Fig. 2. Passing threadedly as at 22a through the upper end of the leg 22 as here indicated is a threaded turn-screw II having its iower end swivelled in the bearing block 48 as at 42 and at its upper end provided with a hand wheel 48.

Thus by manipulation of the hand wheel 48 the bearing block 48 may be raised or lowered in the frame leg 22 and the swinging end of the roller 28 lmay be angularly adjusted in a plane normal to the conveyor belt I2 in any position of the frame transversely of the belt.

The arrangement is such that the roller 28 rotates in the direction oi the arrow M (Figs. 3 and 5). The roller desirably has a peripheral covering 45 advantageously of canvas similar to the canvas conveyor belt I2 which is thus moderately but not too smooth. The diameter of the roller 28 (in one instance. say, approximately 12 inches) is desirably greater than the width of the dough strip I (which may be, say, approximately 8 inches), and the dough strip I8 here shown is substantially narrower than the conveyor belt I2 (which may be, say, 24 inches wide) so that the dough strip carried by the conveyor I2 in the direction of the arrow I3, may be advanced ,initially along one side of the vconveyor belt I2, namely the aide nearest to the pivot of the roller, the ,dough having been previously so sheeted.

The angle of the roller, indicated by the letter X, in a plane parallel with the belt is preferably, for the arrangement here shown, approximately twenty dem from a straight longitudinal position, as suggested by an imaginary line 48, to the axis of the miler, as suggested by an imaginary line I1. VThus the roller extends desirably more nearly in the direction of movement of the conveyor than at right angles thereto while at the same time extending entirely across the dough assaeiv strip. In the piane normal to the conveyor belt the roller 28 is desirably adjusted so that its distal or swinging end is a little higher (say inch) than its proximal or pivoted end, providing a graduated space 48 between the roller and belt at the distal end. Variations in these angles for purposes of the present invention will be laterv pointed out. 'I'he proximal end of the roller will be seen to be practically tangent with the belt I2, so that the dough strip cannot pass completely thereunder.

So constructed and arranged, when the leading edge 48 (Fig. 4) of the initially leading end of the dough strip I8 moves in the direction of the arrow I! carried by the conveyor belt I2, it will engage the roller 28 rst at the comer 50 of the strip which will pass partially under the roller 28 48) as the width and thickness of the dough stripdesirably greater than and substantially in excess y of the linear speed of the conveyor with the dough thereon. For example, if the speed of the belt is approximately 40 feet per minute, the speed of the roller may well be say 18 revolutions per minute or a peripheral speed of approximately 55 feet per minute. Thus, as the dough Strip begins to` be coiled, by the joint action of the moving belt and rotating roller, and friction between the dough and the periphery of the roller, the coiled dough begins to rotate due to the greater speed of the roller and the fact that the surface of the roller is only moderately smooth. Consequently, the dough is coiled upon itself faster than it is moved longitudinally and a minimum of helical coiling occurs at the leading end of the dough strip. Such helical coiling is undesirable, and is practically eliminated by the present invention.. If any portion of the leading end of the dough strip need be discarded for this reason, in the practice of the present invention, it is so small as to be negligible.

It will be understood from the foregoing that for a given run lof production, the dough strip III may be continuous, and may be produced without a break practically indefinitely.

As the dough strip moves farther along in the direction of the arrow I3 sufficiently under the roller 28 to engage the roller, it is coiled throughout its width, intermediately in a tapered coil as indicated at 5I (Fig. 3). During this coiling of the dough strip an advantageous wedging action occurs due to the progressively increasing diameter of the intermediate coiled portion 5I ofthe strip which wedging action mildly but not too vigorously works the dough together somewhat. Accommodation for the increasing diameter of the dough as it is thus coiled is made by the graduated space 48 which may be increased or decreased (by manipulation of the hand wheel I8 may be varied. In this instance the dough strip Ill may be, say, approximately V4 inch thick initially, and the maximum diameter of the doughstrip when coiled will in the proportions given for illustrative purposes, be approximately 1% inches. Thus, -the diameter of the roller I2 is desirablyabout eight times that of the dough as iinally coiled. v

It is to be borne in mind that as the dough is assaei? being coiled, for example at I, it is rotating -faster than it is moving forward, dueto the pey riphery of the roller 'beingenot too smooth and i greatest diameter of thejrollenthe dough is thus displaced laterally on the belt, fast enough to minimize the production of a, helical spiral in the coiled dough. It is desirable that thecoiled dough strip should move laterally on the'belt I2 as a resultant of the actions of the longitudinally moving belt and the rotatively moving roller, and it will be seen from Fig. 3 of the drawings that` hand side of Fig. 3, so that the longitudinal edge 52 of `the dough strip, that is, the edge-which is nearest the centerline of the belt, makes one complete revolution under'the infiuence'of the roller 28, so as to displace this edge'laterally of the conveyor belt to .a position indicated at 53 in which the edge 52 is directly at the bottom of the coil as seen from Figs. 3 and 5, and the final wedging action as the dough coil emerges from,

under the roller 28 thus assists in sealing this otherwise free edge of the coil to the other spirals of the coil, which sealing action is assisted by the moistening of the margin II of the dough 'strip along this edge as already referred to. The fact that the dough is subject to the rotative action of the roller 28 while the edge 52 of the dough strip is being moved laterally to the position at 53 contributes further to the sealing action just referredto.

It has been found that with a dough strip as here shown a roller of. approximately twelveinch diameter provides the optimum of wedging action on the coiled dough cylinder 5I by reason of the somewhat angular space B (Fig..5) which the coiled dough traverses between the belt I2 and the periphery of the roller 2B at the distal end of the roller. Progressive reduction of the diameter of the roller would rapidly diminish such vwedging action while a progres- Y, sive increase in the diameter, above, say, 12 inches,

justment also in a plane normal to the conveyor belt will accommodate normal or slight varia- A tions in the thickness of the dough strip. If a substantially thicker dough strip. were desired to be employed, increasing materially the diameter of the nally coiled dough cylinder, a roller of larger diameter might well be' employed, the proportions here suggested being illustrative. For such here shown illustrative proportions, the roller has a length of say 36 inches.

Furthermore,'as the dough emerges from under the roller, under the continued advancing intluence of the belt I2, the coiled dough cylinder 54 immediately ceases to rotate and thesealed edge 52 therefore remains at the bottom of the coil. as is highly desirable, for the purpose of maintaining this seal until it is set. by an interval 91' time, with the weight of the coil thereon,

' f track 23.

vthe coiled dough cylinder passing under the Moreover, it will be seen'that the coil as it shown in perspectivein Fig. 6.

yemerges from under the roller is not in the form of a helix. In other words, as appears from Figs.

3 and 5, when the coiled dough emerges from 'under the roller, after the first few inches of the leading edge 49 of the dough strip I0 have gone by, the spirals 55 of the coiled dough'are advantageously in the same transverse plane or describe what may be called a dat spiral and not a helical spiral. l

Consequently, by the practice of the present invention, the'dough cylinder 54, after it has passed the roller 28. may be immediately severed into short cylindrical sections 56, one of which is This severing may be done by, say, a powerdriven knife, for example, which need notbe here specifically described. 'I'hese cylindrical dough sections may then be placed in pans or trays to be later baked.

It is desirable to maintain the sealed edge 52 of the coil directly at the bottom of the coil, as shown, for the additional reason that the distal edge of the roller. as the coil' leaves the roller, is thus `prevented from contacting the edge 52 after the seal is once made, .which contact might otherwise tend to re-open the seal. Furthermore, in severing the sections 56, as the knife is brought down upon the coil, here again, any. tendency of the knife blade to re-open the seal is counteracted by the fact that the sealed edge is between the coil and the conveyor belt and is thus held against re-opening.

If the present invention be used for the making of rolls or buns in which sweetening or the like is spread upon the dough strip before it engages the roller, the convolutions or spirals 5 5 of the coil will of course remain apparent at the ends of the sections 56, this for example being indicated in Fig. `6, and 'this is of course not undesirable for say cinnamon buns or certain other classes of bakery products. If cinnamon rolls,

for example, are being' produced, the cylindrical sections 56 may be preferably shorter and even say of less length than their diameter, so as t0 be disposed on end in the baking pans.

On the other hand, if the invention be used to produce coiled dough sections without extraneous ingredients upon the dough strip, and say for bread, the convolutions or spirals of the coil will tend to disappear when the dough is treated in accordance with the present invention, so that advantageously when the coiled cylindrical sections are proofed and baked. the dough will become substantially homogeneous and a slice of such baked bread may be broken lin half without the break tending to follow the original spirals. This is highly desirable when the invention is used for baking bread.

At the same time, the continuous treatment here described with its absence of manual handling of the dough and with a minimum of mechanical treatment of the dough, has been foundy to produce a lighter and more tender dough texture having more uniform size cells which enhances its edibility and digestibility, approaching more desirable characteristics of home-made bread.

In any use hereof, the continuity of the process and the reduction of manual labor involved contributes to a substantial reduction in cost.

Anti-friction bearings for the roller trunnions 29 .and 30v in the frame I9 may be provided including self-aligning spherical bearing units IIb for the trunnion 20, and a for the trunnion Il.

. 'I'he spherical bearing unit IIb will rotate ln the bearing blocks Ila of the leg i8 to'accommodate raising or lowering of the bearing block Il and, similarly, the spherical bearing lla will rotate in the bearing block 4l to accommodate auch angular adjustment; i

Desirably the angle of the intermediate tafpered coil I is, as shown, such that the axis oi the coil is more nearly in the direction of movement of the dough strip I0 than it is transverse The aspect of the invention claimed by the present case is the coiling of a strip o! dough by a diagonal roller so as to bring the tree edge of the coil at the bottom of the coil to seal this edge, claims to other aspects of the invention having been divided out as herelnbeiore indicated.

Having described the invention, what is here' claimed is: 4

l. The method of treating dough for baking which comprises the steps of moving an elongated strip of dough on a conveyor, causing the dough while moving on the conveyor to be engaged intermedially of its length by but not to pass completely under a rotating roller placed obliquely to the direction of movement of the dough, the periphery of the roller where engagedby the dough moving in a direction opposed to the direction of movement oi the dough, whereby the strip of dough is coiled longitudi nally, and adjusting the angle of the roller with respect to the dough strip so that the free edge ofthe dough is disposed at the bottom of the coil and between the coiled dough and the conveyor whereby to seal the free edge as it emerges from engagement with the roller.

2. The method of treating dough which comassaeiv dough on -a conveyor, causing the dough while moving on the conveyor to be engaged intermedially of its length by but not to pass completely under a rotating roller placed obliquely to the direction of movement of the conveyor and extending substantially more nearly in the direction of movement of the conveyor than in a direction perpendicular thereto. rotating the roller at a peripheral speed substantially ln ea- `cess oi' the linear speed of the conveyor, the

of dough so that the free edge of the dough is' disposed at the bottom of the coil and between the coiled dough and the conveyor whereby to seal the said free edge as the coiled strip emerges from engagement with the roller, and cutting the coiled strip into relatively small cylinders'tor baking. 4

3. The method of treating dough for baking which comprises the steps of relatively moving n `fiat strip of dough disposed on a support and a turn-up roller disposed obliquely to the dough strip more nearly in a direction longitudinal than at right angles to the dough strip to en gage said dough strip intermedially of the length or the dough strip, rotating the roller whereby the periphery of the roller where engaged by the dough strip moves in a direction opposed vto the direction of relative longitudinal movement of the dough strip and roller to turn up a lon= gitudinalv edge of the dough strip and to coil the dough strip longitudinally with said edge within the coil, and adjusting the angle ot the roller with respect to the dough strip so that prises the steps oi' moving an elongated strip oi the other longitudinal edge oi' the coiled dough m disposed at the bottom of the coil and between the coiled dough and the support to seal the last mentioned edge after the dough is coiled by said roller.

MORRIS COIfmN. DUARD W. ENOCH. GEORGE HASTY. GERALD A. JORGENSON. 

